Qing Dynasty harem dramas have been a popular theme in recent years, and the words and deeds of the concubines in the play are full of "gunpowder flavor", but they are always elegant, slow and methodical, dressed beautifully, and form a huge contrast with the inner scheming, which is also the place where the audience enjoys it the most.
However, if we watch more Qing Palace dramas, it is easy to summarize some of the characteristics of the Qing Dynasty concubines dressed up, such as combing the classic flag head, stepping on the bottom of the flowerpot, hanging white cloth strips around their necks, and so on. In different dramas, the dress style of concubines is often different, such as in the earlier "Huan Zhu Ge Ge", the concubines have large flower heads on their heads.
In fact, this hairstyle is called "big pull wing head", which was only popular in the late Qing Dynasty, and it did not conform to history when it appeared during the Qianlong period. Moreover, we can find that some concubines in Qing Palace dramas will wear finger covers, and some do not wear them, which can also be seen in the level of historical research. In fact, the concubines of the Qing Dynasty did have the habit of wearing finger covers.
From the perspective of modern people, such a sharp finger sleeve is not convenient, and if you are not careful, you will hurt yourself. However, among the concubines of the Qing Dynasty, it was very popular, and even played out many tricks, as a cultural relic, there are "tortoiseshell inlaid jewelry jade sunflower nail set", "tortoiseshell inlaid rice beads Tuanshou nail set", etc., which make people feel very expensive when they hear the name.
These beautifully decorated, ornate finger sleeves were originally designed to protect the fingernails. Before the Qing army entered the customs, Manchurian aristocratic women had the custom of wearing finger covers, they did not need to work in the field, they had the habit of leaving long nails, wearing finger covers was also a status symbol, in addition, they would wear animal horns on their heads and gold and jade rings on their necks.
Finger sleeves are also called finger protectors, gold drives, don't look at it is popular in the harem of the Qing Dynasty, in fact, ancient Han women also have a history of wearing finger covers, such as the tombs of the Han Dynasty to the Sui Dynasty have unearthed gold and silver finger protectors, although relatively rare, but the production is also excellent, there are "gold ancient money pattern nail sets" and so on.
Concubines of the Qing Dynasty wore finger covers, first, they were used to keeping long nails and dyeing nails with phoenix flowers, but long nails were very easy to break, so they needed finger sleeve protection; second, ordinary civilian women did not have the opportunity to wear finger covers, and they wore them to show their nobility; third, this also catered to the mainstream aesthetic concepts of ancient times.
Just as the ancients used small feet as beautiful, for women's hands, ancient men also had a set of aesthetics, like the "hand like a soft body" described in the "Book of Poetry, Wei Feng, Shuo ren" is their favorite. "Hands like soft leaves" means that the woman's hands are like white grass buds, very white and tender. It can be said that the ancients of all dynasties liked women to "refer to green onions", with three characteristics: pointed, long and white.
But it is impossible for every woman's hand to be born perfect, there are always some people whose fingers are not long enough, and then the finger sleeve is needed to play a role. The structure of the finger sleeve from the base of the finger to the fingertip is retracted, which can help the fingers shape, prevent long deviations, and use hollowing, engraving, inlaid gemstones and other production processes, which can also make the air circulate and the hands are more beautiful.
Therefore, the concubines wear finger sleeves, mainly out of the need to show status and love beauty, the qing palace concubine ranks from top to bottom are empress, imperial concubine, noble concubine, concubine, concubine, concubine, noble, always present, promised, different levels of concubines, wearing finger sleeves will also be somewhat different, high status with gold, jade, tortoiseshell, enamel, low status may wear copper finger sleeves.
Therefore, it is not difficult to understand why the concubines should go to great lengths to compete for favors, if they do not advance in the harem, the degree of clothing will be worse than others, and wearing finger covers and loving beauty cannot be willful. Even in modern times, girls spend a lot of effort on nail art!